Binsey Poplars
Kate Honey
Kamerkoor JIP performs Binsey Poplars, composed by Kate Honey, with lyrics by Gerard Manley Hopkins. The piece reflects the poet's sorrow over the destruction of nature, particularly the felling of poplar trees in Oxford. The music captures the emotional weight of loss and ecological degradation. Welmoed Eggeraat is the soloist, with the choir conducted by Jonathan Ploeg.
Kamerkoor JIP performs Binsey Poplars, composed by Kate Honey (1991) with lyrics by the renowned British poet Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889). The poem reflects Hopkins’ deep concern for the natural world, particularly the destruction of nature due to human intervention. Binsey Poplars mourns the loss of a grove of poplar trees near the village of Binsey in Oxford, England. Hopkins laments the irreversible damage caused by deforestation, connecting the destruction of nature to the broader existential concerns of life and death.In this work, Honey musically explores the sorrow and urgency within the poem, using harmonies and textures that evoke the emotional weight of loss. The soloist for this performance is Welmoed Eggeraat, with the choir conducted by Jonathan Ploeg.Kamerkoor JIP, founded in 2013 by brothers Jonathan and Imre Ploeg, is a project choir based in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The choir focuses on presenting new, innovative, and lesser-known choral works, often focusing on contemporary global themes such as war, peace, migration, and the ecological crisis.
